An Iron Halo
by EvilByNecessity
Summary: Others grew to hate her. Some were so disappointed they could barely look at her– and she didn't care for any of it, because she was going to be invincible. Just you wait and see. She was going to set the stars on fire one day. She was the soaring fae in a sea of writhing demons. Angel/Demon AU


Hey there. So this is very different from anything I've ever written before and I'm awfully nervous about posting it... it's me being very serious and sharing my first serious multi chapter-ed third person not goofing around actually trying to share something I'm proud of and working to become a better writer fic fic.

So feedback is appreciated... probably more then you will ever know... BUT I will try to express how much I appreciate it in the form of virtual hugs (ノ゜ω゜)ノ first ones free.

LoveLoveLove you all annnnnddddd here we gooooooooooooooooooo

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy tail or any of its characters.

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><p>She wasn't quite sure what she was doing.<p>

Maybe it was just a quick walk. Maybe it was a breath of fresh air.

Maybe it was her way of running, her way of showing the world that she wasn't the same, that she was bitter and tired, that she'd suffered through her entire existence in an endless pool of resentment.

She was exhausted. What was the point, really, of living this half-life, this spiral of shame and guilt? She didn't think there was a point – none of it mattered, she wanted to scream, damn it, none of it matters, you all are going to die anyway! And all you'll be is a decayed remain of someone once upon a time, a vague memory, a half-remembered dream.

That's all she was. Nobody. Forgotten. Strangely comforted knowing she meant nothing. None of it was worth anything. Outside of this bubble of existence, there was nothing except the endless unknown, the deep vast space of nothingness, and she had seen it all.

She had watched, how for thousands of years, mortals kept building back up from the ashes – how entire civilizations could be razed only to become magnificent again and again and again– she hated knowing that she was the only one left behind. She was the in-between, the not here and not there, the undecided character who suffered the consequences from both sides because she'd been taught to be bad and all she really wanted to be was herself.

So she was a maybe.

Maybe-bad, maybe-good.

Full nothing.

Irrelevant.

Forgotten.

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><p>Levy McGarden barged into the fluorescent-lit lobby of Magnolia University's library ten minutes later then she should have. Messy blue curls bounced around her face as she weaved between softly lit wooden work desks toward the center of the room. Struggling to catch her breath on the sickly sweet aroma of decaying paper, her eyes began to adjust to the pale light of the crystal chandelier hanging directly overhead.<p>

Late wasn't something Levy normally was but this had been a frustrating morning of burned toast and missed buses. Waving her apologies to an irritated looking senior, Levy tugged the cord connected to the buds in her ears, letting them fall as swing for a fraction of a second before winding them around her hand.

"Would it kill you to show up on time?" The older, pinched face student huffed as she gathered her things. "There's still paperwork that needs to get done, but it's been a slow day and the other girl called in sick, so you'll have the place to yourself."

Apologizing again, the petite bluenette slipped behind the enormous mahogany desk. Levy's dark brown eyes flashed red as they followed the other woman's flitting movements. As she shoved the last of her belongings in a tacky teal tote, Levy's colleague offered one final sneer before turning on her heel and clicking her way toward the huge wooden doors that enclosed the library.

Waiting until she heard the slow creak and muffled thud of the doors closing behind her coworker, Levy rolled her shoulders back and let out a long sigh. Kicking off her shoes and rotating her neck, she shrugged off her sensible sweater, not particularly caring that most of her cleavage was visible in her low cut dress shirt. Smiling softly to herself and reaching over stacks of unfinished paperwork, Levy grasped at a small silver radio, humming as she tuned it to her favorite station.

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><p>Pushing a wobbly cart through row after row of dusty shelves Levy immediately froze as she heard the echoing scrape of the library doors being pushed open for the first time in over an hour. Inwardly groaning she abandoned her cart to seek out the straggler who had decided to interrupt her incredibly peaceful morning.<p>

Rolling up her sleeves and striding through the young adult section Levy instantly brightened at the sound of two familiar voices chatting away with each other.

"Jet! Droy! What are you two doing here?" Levy smiled, tucking a stray piece of sky-kissed hair behind her ear. As far as humans went, Levy only had a handful she could call friends, the boys in front of her were some of her best. Kind, loyal, and trusting they had become fast friends in Levy's first year at Magnolia University.

"Levy!" A tall, lanky man almost as skinny as Levy herself and his rather portly companion chortled together as soon as they laid eyes on her. "We brought you lunch, figured you could use a break," Jet surmised as he reached over to gently rest a plastic to-go box on the polished surface of the desk.

"Actually it's been a pretty slow morning," Levy waved a hand, dramatically gesturing to their deserted surroundings, "I'm finished at the end of the hour but lunch sounds fantastic."

"It's your favorite," Droy grinned brightly.

"Straight from that little deli on Strawberry Street," Jet chuckled.

"A turkey pesto Panini with sweet potato chips?" Levy demanded beaming at the both of them.

"Nothing but the best for you," glancing at Levy the one called Jet lifted the corner of his mouth into a smile. Letting his fingers flutter across the back of his neck he moved aside, allowing the petite woman access to the plastic box.

Munching on her food happily Levy sat herself across from her friends at one of the rickety tables littering the granite floor. Slumping comfortably in her chair Levy propped her feet up in Droy's lap ignoring his murmur of protest.

"So what have you two been up to? I haven't seen you since finals, not getting in too much trouble right?" Levy grinned cheekily, popping a chip in her mouth.

With a wide smile Droy nudged his friend with his elbow, "Tell her!"

Sitting up straighter and arching an eyebrow Levy directed her attention toward her lanky friend.

Jet flushed "Well I uh got scouted for the Olympic Trials by the USATF and-"

"We're going to Washington to visit," Droy finished in a rush snagging a few chips from Levy's meal.

Mouth falling open for a few seconds Levy quickly composed her shock and smiled brightly at her friend. "That's huge news Jet! Congrats!"

"Thanks Levy," Jet smiled happily glancing up at her. "But how have you been? How did your paper for Lahar's class go? I heard it was a killer."

The 3rd year linguistics major smirked "Fifteen pages? That's nothing and you know it." The gift of tongues did come in handy, even here, Levy mused, "So when do you leave?"

Two pairs of guilty eyes held Levy's gaze before Droy spoke up, "That's why we stopped by, we leave tomorrow."

"But we're only gone for a week, two at most," Jet added hastily.

Levy smiled at her friends, "You'll both be safe right? And bring me all the free stuff the hoards of international sponsors with throw at you?"

A sigh of relief was audible between the two of them, "of course we will, and don't jinx it! I'm nervous enough as it is. You'll be alright while we're gone though won't you?" Jet coaxed.

Fighting a smile the little blunette rolled her eyes and moved to dump her plastic box in the trash bin under the desk, "Of course I will! And don't you dare spend all your time worrying about me when you have an opportunity like this on the line," the small woman chided as she stood up.

Jet ruffled her hair as Droy gathered her up in a bear hug, "well we should run, we still have to pack."

Pulling away from Droy and standing on her toes to hug Jet, Levy offered an encouraging smile to her anxious looking friend, "I'll see you soon and I want you to know I'm dead serious about the free stuff." Laughing as he returned her friendly squeeze he straightened up and started to follow Droy to the door, "I'll make sure to snag you something good." With a last wave and a chuckle the boys left while Levy glanced at the clock, only an hour left before she was free to spend her Saturday with her date, an especially edgy mystery novel.

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><p>Sitting cross-legged on the thick plush rug in the center of her room and thumbing through the yellowing pages of an old novel, Levy McGarden swayed to the soothing melody drifting from where her Ipod sat docked on a shelf.<p>

After inhaling the rest of her murder mystery, Levy had started her typical collection rearranging ritual. Afterward she would grab a book -or stack or books- that she couldn't bring herself to file away, curl up in her favorite overstuffed armchair with a cup of hot lemon tea, and get to work rereading her old favorites. Or at least that was the plan before her normally perky roommate practically kicked down the door, in what must be six inch heels, without so much as a knock, and promptly flopped onto the middle of Levy's bed.

"Soooooo-"drawled Levy with a frown from where she sat looking up at tumbles of blonde hair spilling over the edge of the bed, "I take it your date didn't go too well? What was his name again? Dan something?"

Lucy had been Levy's best friend and roommate since moving to Magnolia to attend the University, and the only one who knew anything about Levy's secret. At some point in the last year Levy had gotten caught up in her own lies. One too many for Lucy to keep shrugging off the fact that things just didn't seem to add up about her best friend. So during Lucy's meltdown of nuclear proportions Levy had decided to screw it and tell her friend the truth.

"He told me that the Lord had given him revelation that we were to be married and that women need to learn to just trust that kind of thing," Lucy growled as she kicked off her heels and did a little shimmy wiggle thing to flip over. Propping herself up on her elbows the Journalism major saw Levy's cringe.

"It was a total waste of make-up. Why are all men so repulsive?" Lucy asked as she pulled the black ribbon out of her hair and started twisting it around her pinky finger, "I'm telling you, I'm so close to becoming a nun, it's not even funny."

Levy was silent for a few long moments before she sighed deeply and uncrossed her legs. Lifting herself out of her position on the floor, she stretched her legs and with small measure steps, maneuvered her way through the piles of books littering the ground, and threw herself on the bed next to her friend, "was it worse than the guy who told you on the first date that he wanted to take you by the cemetery to meet his parents because you might be the one?"

Lucy groaned and rolled over, burying her head in a pillow.

Ignoring the blonde's muffled scream Levy continued, "because if I have to wrestle you into bed after coming home to find you killed a bottle of Bacardi in under 20 minutes again… we're going to have a serious mess."

She heard a soft laugh as her friend pulled the pillow away from her face, "So much for being an organ donor huh?"

"You might as well set your liver out to sea on a burning ship," Levy giggled.

"Ugh I'm going to need some tea, a long _long_ bath, and to hibernate for about a year just to get rid of how gross he made me feel," slowly rising off the bed Lucy turned her back toward the Levy in a silent plea for help with the zipper on her dress. Levy obliged and Lucy shrugged out of the black cocktail dress letting it fall to the floor as she scooped up a wrinkly green tee shirt proudly displaying the words 'I LIKE BIG BOOKS-AND I CANNOT LIE' from its place half hidden under Levy's bed. Pulling it over her head as she padded barefoot towards the small kitchenette they shared, "tea first."

Trailing after her Levy pouted, "That's one thing I don't like about it here, it's almost too quiet when everyone's asleep_."_

"Oh come off it you love the human world," Lucy added smugly glancing at Levy from the corner of her eye. She rifled through the cupboard that held the rather large assortment of tea they owned between the two of them. Holding up a two small tins Lucy turned to her friend, "Jasmine or Licorice?"

The smaller woman replied with a shrug, "Either is fine."

The blonde spun back around popping one of the tins back in its place and quickly got to work filling the kettle on the stove top with water.

"But I don't love humans. I just love not being bad at anything. Especially being bad at being bad. It's hard not to fall in love with human day to day lives, all these books and poetry, freedom and variety," Levy leaned against the door frame and smiled vaguely as she fiddled with her headband, "and I don't know Lu, there are things I miss too, I mean I've been out of touch for a really long time…"

"...You're not like them you know. The way you talk about them… You belong in this world so much more Levy, you deserve to be happy," Lucy stared intently at the mugs of steeping tea.

Levy supposed she shouldn't even be surprised Lucy had figured out the cause of her brooding silences.

"Go take your bath," Levy huffed blowing a loose strand of azure hair out of her face and hiding a smile, "I'm supposed to be cheering you up not the other way around."

Laughing and offering her friend a quick hug Lucy shuffled off in search of a few fluffy towels. Watching her friend from the corner of her eye Levy stretched, reaching her interlocked fingers high above her head and allowing her tank top to ride up just enough to revel the smooth unmarked skin of her stomach, where a belly button should be.

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><p>It wasn't much but if you liked it you HAVE to tell me. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. It is vital for your own survival and the continuation of the human race that you tell me if you enjoyed it.<p>

Really it's for the greater good.


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